MA: DTCE field trip to the Forbidden Corner

On Friday 5th October the DTCE students were taken on a ‘mystery field trip’ to The Forbidden Corner, which is a labyrinth in North Yorkshire. The aim of the day was to get the students working together in groups to gather information necessary to complete a complex task — namely, mapping this intricate space.

As the students discovered this was not an easy task! Not only because of the complexity of the maze, which has exteriors and interiors and works in three dimensions, as well as having lots of means of disorienting the visitor. The damp weather on the day did not help either, not when it came to putting the maps together on paper!

Mapping the space — in the drizzle…

All the same some very good maps were produced… I put up some pictures here partly to record the day but also as a way of hinting to those who were there about some key locations in the maze, ones that are very helpful for orientation: key landmarks on the map. All this can get you thinking about how we can gather information from the environment around us — reflect on it — discuss and communicate our understanding with others…

Drew Whitworth

Those who made it up to this tower: remember this was in the very corner of the garden, the end furthest from the entrance. A good spot to lock on to…Did you all find the Herb Garden? This was a substantial section of the maze — but easy to miss…The tower was also useful, as from it you could look down into several parts of the garden and work out how they fitted togetherAt least, in this maze, everywhere looks different — landmarks only occur once, and are distinctive…